Biggest mistake Steelers ever made?

Marino

With Unitas You had a 9th round draft pick. He had shown nothing. Plus, if the Steelers had kept him, he would have been around long enough we would not have drafted Bradshaw. We would not have won 4 super bowls.

With Marino, he had shown something in college and we needed a QB. Marino retired long enough that he would not have affected getting Ben.

 

Not getting Marino in 1983. Period. There's no other mistakes that come close. Passing on Jevon Kearse in 1999 for Troy Edwards was terrible, too. Kearse and Porter would have been epic in the early to mid 00's.

 

Marino

 

Marino for me as well. Hall of Fame QBs seldom drop like that. Once that opportunity presents itself, regardless of other positions, the Quarterback is the guy that gives you the best chance to get to the promised land. Without that player, getting to the big game is very difficult.

 

Wouldn't surprise me! He is a minority ya know

 

Good question, but consider how much more successful we would have been without having to face him for years. I don't know that he would have made us a dramatically better offense, but if he's on our side, our defense doesn't face him and the Pats don't own us.

 

I've heard this theory before, but it doesn't make sense. Marino retired after the 1999 season. The Steelers drafted Roethlisberger in 2004. They easily could have been bad enough and in enough need for a quarterback to take Roethlisberger then.

 

I don't know the story. I only know that they cut him. That having him may have kept them from Bradshaw, as somebody else mentioned, doesn't really keep it from being a terrible mistake.

 

Nah, but it lessens the pain. Kind of like a good bourbon.

 

Marino. Can you imagine the possibility for more multiple championships with him at the helm. Check the story of why he wasn't drafted:

https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburg...gh-Steelers-didnt-draft-Dan-Marino-117300049/

 

That reasoning in the article makes no sense, a 35 year old Bradshaw wasn't going to play forever, why not draft his successor?

 

I got chills when I read that Bradshaw in an attempt to go unnoticed, checked into the hospital under the alias Thomas Brady. With the bad decision to have the surgery done by a local Louisiana doctor instead of Dr. Frank Jobe who invented the Tommy John surgery, the name Thomas Brady has haunted us even longer than I thought.[/QUOTE]

 

95 Steelers with Marino vs 84 49ers who wins?

 

To me the Steelers biggest mistake was allowing Tom Donahoe to not pay ANYONE, as they became free agents from the 94 and 95 teams. The Steelers could have won it all in 96 had "he who shall not be named" still been QB. Lake, Greene, Woodson, Brown, and many more, went on to produce other places. I feel like Colbert would have found a way to keep that team in tact.

 

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First the Corona Virus and now we learn that Bradshaw had a Tom Brady ALIAS. 2020 can't end soon enough.

 

That 49er team was legendary but their only loss that year was to the Steelers led by Mark Malone and Rich Erenberg. I think Marino with our 1995 defense would have at least a 50-50 chance of winning.
That 49er team beat Marino's Dolphins in the Superbowl but Miami's defense that year was pretty bad giving up an astounding 4.7 yards a rush for the season. In that Superbowl loss to the 49ers they gave up around 200 yards rushing. Our 1995 defense wouldn't have let that happen.

 

People think of Montana and the passing game, but the 1984 49ers relied heavily on their running backs. Wendell Tyler averaged 5.1 yards per carry and Roger Craig had over 600 rushing while leading the team in receptions. They were the worst possible matchup for those Dolphins just as Miami with Marino was the worst possible matchup for the Steelers.

 

For me as a fan, and during the time I closely followed the team, letting Vrabel go...

 

Vrabel a Plan B free agent who had been stuck on the bench, so I'm not sure how much choice they had. The real mistake was not trying him inside as the Patriots did.

 

Probably not their biggest mistake, but since I haven't seen it posted in this thread yet:
Drafting Plaxico Burress over Brian Urlacher.

 

49ers

 

Marino hands down.

HACK

 

Ok 76 Steelers with Marino vs 84 9ers lol

 

Never thought of this. Urlacher would have been a badass ILB for the Steelers. But... Steelers were in dire need of WR. They could have done a lot worse than Plax. Bengals took Warrick ahead of Burress. Burress ended up much better.